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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24957313">Kinstones in Castle Town (Chapter 3.5)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkAcey/pseuds/DarkAcey'>DarkAcey</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Bonus content from Not My Namesake [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Legend of Zelda &amp; Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap, The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Best Friends, Childhood Friends, Coffee Shops, Deleted Scenes, Easter Eggs, Feel-good, Fluff, Gen, Link (Legend of Zelda) Uses Sign Language, References to Canon, Selectively Mute Link (Legend of Zelda), Snacks &amp; Snack Food, Sneaking Out, Trans Male Character, Trans Male Zelda</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 09:54:25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,922</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24957313</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkAcey/pseuds/DarkAcey</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Zelda's sick of his father treating him like a <em>princess</em>, so Link helps him get out of the castle for a fun afternoon in town.</p><hr/><p>This ficlet comes from <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22827259/chapters/54555730">Not My Namesake</a>, a long fic about a new generation of heroes 100 years after the fall of Calamity Ganon. It can be enjoyed on its own, but I recommend starting with the main story.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Link &amp; Zelda (Legend of Zelda)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Bonus content from Not My Namesake [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1806355</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>35</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Kinstones in Castle Town (Chapter 3.5)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">


        <li>
            Inspired by

            <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22827259">Not My Namesake</a> by <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkAcey/pseuds/DarkAcey">DarkAcey</a>.
        </li>

    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>If you're here without having read <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22827259/chapters/54555730">Not My Namesake</a>, two notes for context:<br/>- Link and Zelda are engaged because the king is requiring Zelda to be married, not because they love each other like that<br/>- Zelda is a trans man, but not recognized as such by his father or the rest of the kingdom</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Yes! Take that!” Zelda cheered, jumping up after his bombchu hit the target in the Bombchu Bowling Alley. It was the second game shop in Castle Town that Link had taken Zelda, as they had gone to the Shooting Gallery first and easily collected winning prizes. The Bowling Alley was a more interesting challenge. The explosive, mechanical mice had a mind of their own, so it took a combination of luck and planning to get it to crawl around the obstacles on the floor and go up the wall to the targets.</p><p>When they had spent most of their winnings from the Shooting Gallery, Link bid Zelda to follow him again. They walked together to a bakery run by a lovely couple named Wheaton and Pita. The shop was relatively busy, though most customers simply came in to buy a bag of brioche rolls before walking out again. Zelda wasn’t sure what the appeal was for them since they got fresh bread at the castle every day. When he mentioned his low expectations, Link grinned and shook his head.</p><p>
  <em>“Their bread is special. You’ll see.”</em>
</p><p>“Okay then.” Once they got to the front of the counter, Zelda noticed that there were also pies and cakes in their display case. “Oh!” He put his hands on Link’s shoulders and leaned over his head to get a better look at a white cake with strawberries on top. “That looks delicious!”</p><p>Link stumbled under the sudden weight on his back, but laughed. The woman behind the counter, Pita, seemed similarly amused by a knight’s childish excitement. When Zelda realized he had broken character, he quickly stepped away from Link and smoothed out his tabard. He tried to ignore the heat of his blush.</p><p>“Can I get you a slice?” Pita asked.</p><p>Zelda cleared his throat and answered, “Yes, please.”</p><p>Pita then looked at Link. Surprising Zelda, she signed, <em>“What would you like?”</em></p><p>Link’s grin grew at the kind gesture. <em>“Apple pie, please.”</em></p><p>“Alrighty.” Pita glanced back at Zelda. “Anything else?”</p><p>“Uh, I think that’s all we need.”</p><p>Link agreed, so Pita plated their desserts. The two of them sat down at one of two empty tables near the window. Zelda had a nice view of the market and the back of the bakery counter, where he could see Wheaton pulling out a fresh tray of croissants. Surprising Zelda, he noticed a couple of concerning, door-shaped mouse holes near the ceiling along the back wall, and another on the floor. He was about to comment on it when Link made a surprised sound and spit something into his hand.</p><p>“Something wrong?” Zelda faced Link. His brow furrowed when he saw what looked like half of a blue coin in the knight’s palm. “What is that?”</p><p>Link wiped off the coin piece and held it up, grinning as if he had just found a purple rupee. He spelled out the words, <em>“kinstone piece.”</em></p><p>Zelda stared at it dubiously. “Okay?” he asked, drawing out his vowels. “That explains nothing.”</p><p><em>“Eat your cake and I explain.”</em> Link put the blue kinstone piece on the table and continued eating the rest of his pie.</p><p>“Are you saying there’s going to be a kinstone in my cake?” Zelda narrowed his eyes at it, now worried about accidentally swallowing one.</p><p>
  <em>“Maybe. Not all do.”</em>
</p><p>“Hm.” Curiosity got the better of Zelda, so he dug his fork into his cake. On his fourth bite, his fork hit something hard. “Oh!” He dug through is cake and found another blue kinstone piece, “There is one in here.” Zelda picked it out and licked off the frosting coating it. Holding it out so Link could see, he asked, “Why does this place put these in their food?”</p><p>Link reached behind himself to untie a bag from his belt. Opening it up, he dumped the contents and revealed that it was filled with kinstone pieces in blue, green, and one red. All of them were broken in half with irregular edges. He pushed the green and red ones aside and arranged the four blue pieces he had into a line. Picking up the one he found in his pie, he added it to the end.</p><p>“Is this like a game?” Zelda asked, more confused.</p><p>Link shook his head and held out his hand to take Zelda’s piece. He compared it to the edges of all of his. To the knight’s delight, he found a match. He passed Zelda his piece again and held up its pair, gesturing for Zelda to put their edges together.</p><p>“This better not be a prank.” Zelda cautiously fit his kinstone piece into Link’s. The moment they connected, the coin burst into light. Zelda recoiled. When he looked back at Link, he found a pile of strange seashells sitting in the middle of the table. “What in Hyrule? They’re <em>magic</em> coins?”</p><p>Link vigorously nodded, grinning widely.</p><p>Zelda blinked. “Why?”</p><p>
  <em>“It’s fun. Supposed to help make friends.”</em>
</p><p>“Oh. So you have to find pairs with other people? It won’t work by yourself?”</p><p>“Nuh-uh.” Link shook his head, still smiling, as he put his other kinstone pieces back into their bag. The fact that Link vocalized an answer proved just how happy it made him to have made a pair.</p><p>“Huh.” Zelda chuckled, leaning back in his seat. “We’ll have to order our cake from here then. I’d love for all of our guests to play with these things.”</p><p>Link jumped up in his chair, blue eyes bright with eagerness. <em>“Can we really?”</em></p><p>“Of course. I’m sure it’d make my father happy for me to actually try to contribute something to the planning process instead of just trying to derail it.”</p><p>Link made a happy noise, a cross between a hum and a squeak.</p><p>Looking back at the little pile of seashells, Zelda asked, “What are we supposed to do with these now? Just keep them for decoration?”</p><p><em>“No, use them for something else.”</em> Link took off yet another bag from his belt, which made Zelda wonder just how many random things Link was actually keeping on his person at the moment. He knew the knight had a penchant for collecting all sorts of weird odds and ends, ranging from bugs and pretty rocks to actually useful tools like his travel silverware and a bottle of hearty elixir, but it had been a while since Link had fully emptied all of his pockets for Zelda.</p><p>When Link opened the bag, it had more of the mysterious shells. He swept the shells the kinstone pieces had given them into his bag and gestured for Zelda to finish his cake. <em>“I take us there next,” </em>he signed, pointing somewhere down the street.</p><p>“Where?” Zelda leaned forward in his chair to look out the window.</p><p>
  <em>“You will see.”</em>
</p><p>Zelda pouted. “Making me wait for so many things today.”</p><p>Link laughed. <em>“More fun that way.”</em></p><p>* * *</p><p>The place Link took Zelda next was called the Figurine Gallery, and it was run by a demure man named Carlov. His front desk was covered in little, hand-carved statues of things such as sailing boats, a windmill, seagulls, and a piglet. Behind his desk were countless half-finished busts, bottles of paint, carving tools, and paint brushes. To the right of his desk was a strange, massive glass jar filled to the brim with spherical, painted wood capsules. A little opening and a pull lever was set beneath the giant jar.</p><p>While Zelda puzzled over the contraption, Link went up to Carlov’s desk and dumped out his mysterious shells. Gesturing to himself and Zelda, he then pointed to the figurine dispenser.</p><p>Carlov’s perpetually sleepy eyes widened at the pile. “You want to spend all of these?”</p><p>Link nodded, grinning.</p><p>“Oh.” Carlov chuckled. “Okay.” He quickly counted them before sweeping the pile into his hand. “You two can have thirty-seven tries.” Gesturing to the machine, he said, “Have at it.”</p><p>“Thirty-seven?” Zelda repeated, baffled. He faced Link. “What are we trying to do?”</p><p>Link went to the pull lever and yanked back on it. When the lever stretched out as far as it could go, Link released it and a wooden capsule rolled down into the little opening.</p><p>Zelda gasped. “Is there something inside there?”</p><p>Link nodded and picked up the capsule. Unscrewing it open, he revealed a figurine of a little boy with a runny nose. It was barely the size of his thumb.</p><p>“Wow!” Zelda picked it up to admire its craftsmanship. The bottom of the figurine had the name Zill. Looking back at the rest of the capsules in the giant jar, Zelda asked, “Is there a different one in every one?”</p><p>Nodding again, Link gave the emptied capsule to Carlov. He took the Zill figurine back and gestured for Zelda to try pulling the lever.</p><p>There was more resistance than Zelda expected as he pulled on the level, but he felt a satisfying click when he reached its limit. He hurried to the little opening to fetch his prize. Inside his capsule he found an odd but endearing, stump-like creature with a leaf mask and little staff with berries attached. “How cute!” Zelda flipped it over and saw its name was Makar.</p><p>Link looked pleased with Zelda’s prize. <em>“You got a good one.”</em></p><p>“Sweet.” Zelda looked back at Carlov. “So we get to do this thirty-five more times?”</p><p>“That’s right,” Carlov said. “And you can keep all of them, but I’ll take back any duplicates you don’t want.”</p><p>Zelda’s eyebrows rose, impressed. “That’s really nice of you. You do this just for some weird seashells?”</p><p>Carlov gave Zelda a furtive smile. “I have a little deal with the people who make the kinstones.”</p><p>“You do? Who are they?”</p><p>Putting a finger to his lips, Carlov said, “I can’t say.”</p><p>“You—what? That’s not fair! Why—”</p><p>Halting Zelda’s interrogation before it could gain speed, Link held up another capsule in front of Zelda’s face. He had pulled it while Zelda wasn’t paying attention.</p><p>Zelda scowled at Link, but grudgingly took the capsule. “Fine.” He opened it up and allowed himself to be impressed again with a figurine of a black moblin. As much as he wanted to learn more about the kinstones, he supposed part of their fun was the mystery behind them.</p><p>When Zelda and Link finished, Carlov gave them a paper bag to take home their spoils. All in total, they ended up with twenty-three unique figurines and duplicates of the rest. Their luckiest prize was Dinraal, the fiery dragon who watched over the Eldin region of Hyrule. Rather than just wood, its curved horns and the spikes along its spine were made of red crystal.</p><p>“Do you think this is really what Dinraal looks like?” Zelda asked while they walked back to the castle. He turned it back and forth, studying how the light caught the crystal and made it seem to glow. There were pictures of Dinraal in the castle’s library, but the figurine looked so much more alive. He was especially glad to have pulled it because it was his favorite of Hyrule’s guardian dragons.</p><p>Link shrugged with his hands up, then signed, <em>“Probably. Good artist.”</em></p><p>“It’s a shame we’ll have to keep these secret.” Zelda lowered Dinraal, glancing at the bag with the others in Link’s hand. “I wish I could display all of them in my room.”</p><p>
  <em>“After my next visit, I will give them to you. Say I got them then.”</em>
</p><p>Zelda smiled. “Okay. Hopefully you’ll be able to come back again soon.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>If you enjoyed reading, be sure to leave comments/kudos and check out the rest of Link and Zelda's story in <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22827259/chapters/54555730">Not My Namesake</a>!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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